Victims in these cases, often seriously injured or killed because of crushed roofs, contended in their lawsuits that injuries and deaths were a direct result of Toyota's weak roofs.
According to Biller's suit, Toyota repeatedly concealed information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Toyota's compliance with regulations for roof strength. The company went through a "relentless effort to prevent evidence of its vehicles' structural shortcomings from being known," the lawsuit said.